UNIT is called in when scientists begin disappearing and, with the help of
journalist Sarah Jane Smith, the Doctor discovers they are being abducted
into the past. Travelling to the Middle Ages, the Doctor learns that a
Sontaran, Linx, has crashlanded on the planet and allied himself with
a cutthroat brigand named Irongron, who has been using Linx's alien
weaponry to terrorise the countryside.

Production

Having last written Carnival Of Monsters for
Doctor Who a year earlier, Robert Holmes found his latest
submission, “The Automata”, rejected on January 26th, 1973.
Meeting with producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks shortly
afterward, it was suggested that Holmes instead write a story with an
historical setting, something not attempted since Season Four's The Evil Of The Daleks, which partly took place
during the Victorian era.

Holmes, however, was less than enamoured of this idea, as he felt that
historical stories were relics of Doctor Who's origins as a partly
educational series. Nonetheless, he agreed to Dicks' suggestion of an
adventure set in medieval times, provided that it would feature no
historical figures and would include a strong science-fictional
foundation. A storyline was commissioned under the title of “The
Time Fugitive” on February 26th.

Robert Holmes wrote his storyline in the form of a
military communication between two Sontarans

To offset his ennui with the actual business of writing a storyline,
Holmes wrote up his concept in the form of a military communication
between “Hol Mes” and “Terran Cedicks”, members of
the new race of monsters, the Sontarans, he was planning to introduce.
Despite Holmes' unorthodox approach, the storyline met with the approval
of the production team and full scripts were requested on March 5th, by
which time the adventure was going by “The Time Survivor”.
This, in turn, was changed to The Time Warrior around
mid-April.

One significant change made to Holmes' plot involved its climax.
Originally, it was the Doctor and not Hal who killed Linx by shooting an
arrow into the Sontaran's probic vent. Also of note, The Time
Warrior marked the first time that the Doctor's home planet was
referred to by name. Holmes originally christened it Galfrey, and this
was modified slightly to Gallifrey, as revealed in episode one. The name
Irongron came from the histories of Denmark. Early production
documentation accorded The Time Warrior the production code VVV,
but it later became Serial UUU (with VVV not being used at all).

Meanwhile, Letts and Dicks were confronted with the challenge of devising
a companion to replace Jo Grant. A new character was created during the
early part of 1973 and this role went to April Walker, an actress who
had previously appeared in episodes of The Onedin Line, Dad's
Army and Crossroads. Early in the spring, however, the
production team found that Walker and Jon Pertwee shared little
chemistry during rehearsals. It was decided that they would not proceed
with the character, although Walker would be paid in full for all
episodes of Season Eleven. Instead, Holmes wrote a new companion called
simply “Smith” into his scripts. This was latterly fleshed out
as journalist Sarah Jane Smith; Letts and Dicks intended that she be more
independent and modern than Jo, in response to the accusations of sexism
often levelled at Doctor Who.

Because the production team had taken so long to develop Sarah Jane, her
casting was a relatively belated affair. The last actress to be seen for
the role was Elisabeth Sladen, who had originally assumed that she was
merely being considered for a guest spot. Although mainly a stage actress,
Sladen had also enjoyed parts in TV series such as Coronation
Street, Doomwatch and Z Cars. After impressing Letts
with her audition, Sladen was taken to meet Pertwee, and quickly gained
the star's approval as well. Sladen was contracted for twenty-six
episodes on May 3rd.

When she auditioned for the role of Sarah Jane Smith,
Elisabeth Sladen assumed that it was merely a guest spot

In keeping with the previous recording block -- which saw Carnival Of Monsters taped last, to be held
over until the new year -- it was decided that The Time Warrior
would be made at the end of the tenth block, but start Season Eleven.
Letts originally hoped to direct the story himself, but he and Dicks were
busy gearing up for production on a new adult science-fiction series
called Moonbase 3 (which they hoped to leave Doctor Who to
make). Instead, Alan Bromly was offered The Time Warrior. Bromly
had worked as both a director and a producer, on programmes including
Compact and Out Of The Unknown.

Location filming for The Time Warrior involved four days -- May 7th
to 10th -- at Peckforton Castle in Peckforton, Cheshire. This was used as
Irongron's castle. The studio schedule followed the pattern established
throughout most of the production block, taking place on fortnightly
Mondays and Tuesdays. Episodes one and two were recorded on May 28th and
29th in BBC Television Centre Studio 6. It was on the second day that the
strain of wearing the full Sontaran costume became too much for actor
Kevin Lindsay, who collapsed. It was discovered that Lindsay had a weak
heart, and so Bromly arranged his shooting schedule for the second two-day
session to permit Lindsay as much rest as possible. The final installments
went before the cameras on June 11th and 12th in TC1, completing Doctor
Who's tenth recording block.

Eleven days later, on June 23rd, Elisabeth Sladen was unveiled to the
press. Meanwhile, with it clear that Dicks intended to remain on Doctor
Who for just one more year, the search was on for a new script editor.
Former Doctor Who writer Louis Marks suggested that Holmes might be
an appropriate candidate. In spite of an uneasy meeting with Head of
Serials Ronnie Marsh, Holmes won the job. It was agreed that he would
trail Dicks for the entirety of the eleventh production block, beginning
in the autumn.

Over the summer, Letts asked Bernard Lodge to compose a new title sequence
for Doctor Who, its first in four years. Lodge decided to eschew
the howlaround effect used in all previous versions of the title graphics
in favour of the slit-scan technique. He also designed a diamond-shaped
logo to replace the version used since the start of Pertwee's time on the
show. It was this new sequence which heralded the start of Doctor
Who's eleventh season on December 15th.

Sources

Doctor Who: The Handbook: The Third Doctor by David J Howe and
Stephen James Walker (1996), Virgin Publishing, ISBN 0 426 20486 7.